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Has anyone had any experience with Cuben Fibre when making a kite sail. I know Airdynamics uses it on the T5 Cuben Zero Kite

According to the info it's incredibly light and incredibly strong. See info below:

This is the lightest wt. outdoor fabric we have ever seen. It is 50% lighter than Kevlar, four times more durable than Kevlar and lasts as long as Spectra and remarkable weighs less than 1/2 oz. per square yard. It flexes without loosing strength. Cuben Fiber is a laminated fabric constructed from plasma treated Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibers and monofilament polyester film. Cuben Fiber retains 100% of its original strength after being folded 250 times. It is not effected by salt water nor does it soak up water. It has great UV resistance and is extremely water resistant.

If you search the forum you will find a bunch of threads on the stuff....forum member ae, ceewan, doug c, and others have made kites out of the stuff.... (definitely find the threads on here by ae about his super extra ultra light dual line with the stuff!)

kite makers who use it:Windfire Designs (Tim Eleverston and Ruth Whiting use oil paint on their fantastic designs)Patrick Tan has made a iFlite out of Cuben FiberKarl Longbottom is working with it on a couple of test platformsFocus Designs (Paul DeBakker and Hunter Brown) used Cuben on a couple super fancy kites

Looks like there are a handful of kite surfing kites use cuben fiber in them as well...

Super ultra light back packers use equipment made of this fabric. This can allow total pack weights of under 5 pounds. This would include the pack, shelter, sleep system, rain gear & stuff sacks. It's a bit pricey. Many conventional packs weigh more than that just for the pack.

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"Well him & my uncle tore that engine down I still remember that rumblin' sound" Steve Earle - Copperhead Road

I am using the light Cuben (Quest Outfitters ID: 0.33 oz./sq.yd.) on small single line kites. Very pleased with it so far. If you are careful, you can hot cut the material. I have sewn the material and added reinforcements to it with no problems. More durable that you would think for its weight, but you still can make a hole between the fibers if you are not careful.

In my weight measurements, PC-31 (light ripstop polyester) weighs approximately 1.13 oz./sq.yd., depending on color. The indicated Cuben weighs only 0.414 oz./sq.yd., with it being only 37% of the weight of PC-31. For me, the price is worth the reduction in the sail weight.

You don't need to hot cut cuben at all, and with the 0.33z i would also suggest strongly against sewing it.3M 9460 VHB double sided tape to glue the pieces together. The glued seem is stronger then the fabric itself and since you are using the lightest material on the market, also lighter then sewing it.

I prefer to sew the Cuben because one miss alignment with double sided tape, and you have lost a very expensive piece of sail material. I do use small pieces of double sided tape to hold reinforcements in place for the sewing. Please note that I am making very small (12 in. wing span) no/low wind kites that when completed only weigh 1.0 gram. I have found that sewing with a straight stitch is lighter than using the double sided tape. For this type of kite, I use various types of reinforcements, such as Dacron, ripstop nylon and Teflon tape.

How large a kite have you constructed using the lightest Cuben material and what has your experience been regarding the upper wind speed? I am thinking of purchasing more of the Cuben material to build one of my Raperes and maybe a moderate size stunt kite for no/low wind conditions. I have flown my 12 in. single line Hawk (only 48 sq.in. of sail area) in winds up to 8 mph. This was to see the durability of the materials, which winds were way past the intended upper range of the design (0 to 4 mph). Both the Cuben sail material and the carbon frame held up with no problems. It was quite entertaining to fly the Hawk in moderate winds.

the largest so far is my Spectre XUL with 98" wingspan and around 1550 sq inch area.The sail holds up without any problem to 8mph, haven't tested it further since then the frame starts to deform to much

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